Garden Tools
July 21, 2010
Fiskars Softouch Garden Tool Set makes weeding a pleasure
One of my favorite times in the garden is in the evening. It's so peaceful and relaxing. I wear long sleeves and pants to keep off the mosquitos and sit down by a vegetable row and start pulling the weeds. These tools are a godsend. The are light aluminum and have a soft padded handle that's easy to hold. I work my way down the row, scooting along. Obviously this is not for clean new pants, but some of the old comfort lightweight cotton, frayed and damaged and unruinable.
If I'm very ambitious and the plants need it, I put a trowel full of compost or fertilizer around the root and dig it in. I have to say, it's a great feeling to finish a row. Maybe the Evening Grosbeak is singing and the air is soft and cool. I stand up and look at the row with pleasure. All right, so I know that in a few days, the next cycle of weeds will start and in a couple of weeks I'll have it all to do over--that is, unless I put a heavy mulch around the plants. But it's hard to beat for beauty, a nicely weeded cultivated row of lettuce or beans. Maybe it's all those micro organisms in the soil that are supposed to make you happy. Maybe it's a job that's well done. It makes me feel great!
Everyone knows Fiskars makes great tools and these are no exception and there is a lifetime warranty so how can you go wrong.
At Fiskars 7067 3-Piece Softouch Garden Tool Set
June 28, 2010
Mr. BBQ 18-Piece Tool set is a perfect gift
Here's a good idea for Father's day. He already has a grill and this nice set of tools completes the pictures.
- Be prepared in all grilling instances with this loaded, 18-piece tool set from Mr. BBQ
- Includes a 4-in-1 spatula, knife, fork, tongs, basting brush, 8 corn holders, and 4 skewers
- Whip it out to host family and friends at home, or pack it all up in the included aluminum carrying case to take on the road
- Durably made, the set comes backed by a 5-year warranty
It comes with a carrying case if he wants to take it on the road! Have tools; will BBQ!
At Mr. BBQ 18-Piece Tool set with Case
June 24, 2010
Stihl trimmer works long and hard and lasts and lasts
I had my trimmer about 10 years and am so grateful for it. I have to admit it is sometimes hard to start. The choke is necessary and many pulls are needed before it powers up in the spring. But once it's going, it is easier to start the next time and it makes short work of the weeding around the garden fence where I try to keep the grass down so that weed seeds will not blow into the garden. I like to keep the area around the faucets cut down and now that I have another building on the place, I keep a path trimmed for easy walking.
I once bought a steel cutting plate, but I confess I've never used it. I got scared of the trimmer bouncing back on my shins, but the string and the plastic blades seem to do all the work that I need done. It is possible to be careful around plants so as not to scar the bark of young growing trees and the trimmer tips nicely at an angle so I can take edges down to dirt. I can get the stone path to the house totally free of grass.
This spring I started it up and after much pulling realized I needed a new spark plug. That's after ten years of service and that's what i call a good machine.
At Stihl trimmer
June 21, 2010
Fiskars Garden Fork is made for turning compost
Since it's mid-July, your compost pile is probably piling up. Now is a good time to aerate it to assist in the breakdown of all that material. A good fork such as the Fiskars Compost/Mulch Fork makes short work of such a task. If you're doing this chore with a thick tined fork, you've got the wrong tool for the job. Save that fork for soil work such as turning your garden over in the spring. This fork with all steel construction, will pierce through a pile of compost or hay easily. I know, I know, it's a lot of money but don't cheap out and buy the inferior one! You'll end up bending the tines or the handle and then buying this one eventually anyway.
My compost pile is high with weeds I got from the neglected places in the garden and will need to be very hot if the weed seeds are going to be killed. Keeping the pile turned is one way to insure that everything gets composted.
At Fiskars Garden Fork #9666
June 10, 2010
Dig Hose Thread Watering Timer programs quickly and easily
This is the second generation of Dig timers. I still have the ones I first bought after ten years or so of use. I liked them because they kept working! The programming on the first timers was a ilttle tedious. There one dial which you had to use a small plastic tool to turn(or a dull knife when you of course lost the small tool) that was set for duration. Unfortunately, you had to set the time at the actual time you wanted irrigation to begin by pressing a button. So if you wanted to water, say at 2am when you would not waste water to evaporation, you had to be up at that time to press the start button and then, you had to press a button to stop the watering, an hour, half hour, two hours later. That was a drag. But the timers worked so damn well and lasted for so long that I still have and use them.
In fact, since I couldn't find them at OSH anymore, I was looking online to buy another, when I discovered the new model which is much sleeker and much easier to program. This has two dials, one for duration and another for how ofter you want the irrigation to come on. Simple! My kind of programming. Furthermore they have solved the problem of late night, early morning watering. By holding down the start button, you can delay the time to start by as much as six hours, allowing you to set the 2am watering at 8pm!. You can change the irrigation duration and time by changing the dials, but to change a delayed opening, you have to take out the batteries and leave them out three minutes before starting all over. That is the only down side programming.
At Hose Thread Watering Timer
June 7, 2010
Loving care and a three tined hoe makes for garden success
That love and care can make houseplants thrive is now unquestioned, but garden plants thrive on the same love and care. I am always stunned by the response I get from row vegetables after I have gone over the row, weeding and loosening the soil around each plant. Often within a day, they are perked up and have grown! If I add some manure tea after the weeding, they soar! It's one of the things that makes gardening such a joy--seeing that response from plants you have cared for.
The weather here has been so wet and cool and cloudy that everything in my garden has been sitting there waiting out the winter. Today is the first day of full sun and warmth. It is such a good feeling to get out into the sunshine and the garden and start working. Birds are singing away. There is a Bullock's Oriole nesting nearby, and a Western Tanager as well as lots of robins, including one robin who keeps fluttering against my windows, trying to either scare or mate with his own image.
One of the tools I use to weed seedlings is a three tined hoe. It scratches the soil and tears up small weeds. You can work really close to seedlings with this hoe and also hill up the soil around the seedlings. Most plants like soil around their base. It helps support the plant and sometimes, they will make more roots higher on the stem.
At RUGG MANUFACTURING H20T "GREENFIELD GARDENS" 3-TINE HOE
June 1, 2010
Dramm Soaker Garden Hose promises to solve soaker hose problems
If you have ever tried soaker hoses, you know some of the problems with them. They are supposed to seep water onto a bed, but very often there is a geyser sprayer up into the air. Or, if you're on uneven ground, the lower section of the hose will seep more water or geyser while the upper area is hardly watered. Then there is the problem of the hose clogging with silt and becomming non functional after a few years, or breaking at a weak spot and needing to be patched. I have soaker hoses with leaks wrapped in inner tube and fasteded with poly pipe clamps. That was a good fix until the price of the clamps soared to 59 cents.
To get the most out of soaker hoses, you need to start with a good brand like this Dramm Soaker. It is double walled to prevent the geyser effect and to avoid uneven watering. It's a good practice to slightly cover the hose with soil or to put a mulch over it. That protects it from sun and conserves the water from evaporating or geysering. I use soakers in my strawberries which always need a lot of moisture and bring one side down along a carrot bed which helps those seed to germinate. Once the garden gets going, I have another section of soaker which I attach to run along the new seed beds since the growing plants get watered only every other day in hot weather and the seed beds have to be kept moist constantly.
This Dramm soaker has a life time guarantee and is fitted with nickle brass couplings which won't crush or break easily. The Dramm soaker hose is more expensive, but it's highly recommended and gets great reviews.
At Dramm 17010 ColorStorm Premium 50-Foot-by-5/8-Inch Soaker Garden Hose, Black
May 25, 2010
Strathwood Recliners mean high end comfort
Hopefully sometime in the hustle of digging, planting, fertilizing and getting your garden ready to produce, you'll find time to sit back and enjoy the spring. We've had a cold spell that shocked the tomatoes and nipped some leaves with frost, but I've watered them and given them manure tea and they will make it, especially now that the weather has warmed up. I had planted the first planting of corn and a row of beans, and they have not shown themselves yet. I'm hoping they still will come up.
All the cold weather vegetables are fine. The peas are growing; carrots, broccoli and beets have germinated. It's been their kind of weather. I have yet to plant the squash family or the cucumbers. So it's in the interim between plantings that the thought of just sitting and enjoying the sun, the lawn and the garden comes to mind.
These Strathwood recliners are truely wonderful. Strathwood is known for it's great line of outdoor furniture and these recliners adjust to an infinite number of leg and back positions so you can find your most comfortable position and change it when you wish without getting up. The recliner has a sturdy steel frame and flexible fabric seating. It is really easy to set up and take down, comes in a wide variety of colors and some models have a canopy cover to protect you from the sun. Sweet! Time to relax and enjoy!
At Strathwood Anti-Gravity Adjustable Recliners
May 24, 2010
The Search for the Perfect Timer continues
It's time to get the hoses, the sprinklers and the timers out. It hasn't been terribly hot or dry, but nonetheless, summer is coming here in Northern California and with summer comes irrigation. I usually get set up with two timers in the garden plus some soaker hose on the strawberries as they are always thirsty(and hungry, but more about that later). Then I have one timer and a hose and sprinkler with each that I move around the yard to keep it nice and green.
What this means is that I have used many many timers to save myself the trouble of remembering to turn the water on, and more importantly to turn it off. I'm going to do a series on various times that I have tried, some successfully and some not. I got an Orbit Sunmate single port digital timer for review last fall, but waited until we might be using timers to review it. Digital means you can program it and single port means that it is to be used with only one hose and sprinkler.
It's supposed to be simple to program and indeed it is! You put in two AA batteries and turn a dial to clock set to put the current time in. No other buttons to push. That was a little startling. You just turn the dial to start time and set the time to begin watering. It's really simple once you realize that's all you have to do. The next dial setting how long you want the watering to be and you click in the minutes desired. Turn the dial again to say how often you want the watering. There you can choose every six hours up to seven day intervals. Then you turn the dial to Auto. I have to say this is one of the simplist timers I have ever programed. Even better, somehow I misplaced the instruction and was able to access them online and print them for myself without hours of searching and/or phone calls.
This timer has a rain delay so that you can stop the watering for a few days or less, and has a simple manual override so you can get an extra watering in when needed. I have hooked this on to the faucet and so far it has worked perfectly. All in all a smooth and very easy set up. Oh, but hey, if you're digitally challanged like me, you need to know to take the 6:00am plastic sticker off the time window before trying to set the time. I kept thinking it wasn't working, because the 6:00am didn't change as I tried to set the time. Duh! Otherwise for one port timers, this simple machine gets a 9 out of 10 for set up!
At Orbit Sunmate 91213 One-Dial One-Outlet Hose Tap Timer
May 19, 2010
Peltor Professional Noise Canceling Earmuff - Save Your Hearing
Now is the time we start up the mowers, tillers, and weedeaters. I want to remind you to protect your ears while using these machines. I really love running the mower and tiller. All the everyday concerns fade away and you are just connected to the job at hand, watching the grass fall away, or the soil become crumbly and ready for seed. I avoided ear muffs for years, thinking it looked dorky, but having lost some hearing in the high frequency range, now wear them faithfully while moving or rototilling. It really is much more peaceful as well as protecting your hearing. So a word to the wise here. Get the ear muffs.
This Peltor's dual cup patented Twin Cup design minimizes resonance that protects you from maximum high and low frequencies. This patented design provides the highest noise reduction rating for an earmuff tested in an approved laboratory. It is effective, lightweight, and comfortable.
At Peltor H10A Professional Noise Canceling Earmuff
May 12, 2010
Mowing the lawn is good exercise and Lawn Boy is a good buy
The last rain made the grass grow tall again. In May the lawn growth usually slows down and I only have to mow every few weeks. This much rain is unusual and the grass was getting high enough that the mower wouldn't be able to take it down.
But I really enjoy mowing. I put on earmuffs to muffle the sound and let the world fade away as I follow the mower around the yard. I have mowed the yard enough that most rock and tough places are gone. I let the cut grass fall on the lawn and leave it there. It builds soil eventually. If you catch it in a grass catcher, it does make good compost because it will get hot and help heat up the other compostibles.
I have a lawnmower with a Briggs and Straton mower. This one is a Lawn-Boy. All three models don't require and second thought or a second pull. If you want a lawnmower that is budget-friendly and back to basics, this is a good buy. There is no need to prime or choke when starting. Lawn Boy includes their 3 Year Tru-Start Commitment that will guarantee the mower will start on one or two pulls for up to three years or they will fix it for free. That is a boon to those of us who feel exhausted after pulling the rope on our mower multiple times. This mower has a free 3-year power train warranty and a 2-Year No Worry Warranty with full coverage. Moreover the Lawn Boy is carbon compliant so you're not polluting.
At Lawn Boy 10646 20-Inch 6.75 GT Briggs & Stratton Gas Powered Variable Speed Rear Wheel Drive Self Propelled Lawn Mower (CARB Compliant)
May 7, 2010
A gardener's life is submits to the unexpected
I got my cool weather seeds planted and the whole ground cover tilled under. It was warm during the day and cool at night. The weather hadn't really settled in yet, but I had a couple of hot days where I had to water the seedlings and I started thinking about getting out timers and hoses. And I realize I didn't have a working gentle watering spray for keeping the seeds moist. But last night it started raining and it continued all night and all day today. It is pouring cats and dogs, sheep and cows, turtles and frogs! No kidding. In California in the spring, it usually dribbles a little, sometimes you get a real rain, but this is a winter time downpour that is quite unusual.
And what does a gardener do about this? Well, I am sitting and staring out the window in awe as the rain soaks everything. If it clears up tomorrow then the carrots, beets, peas and lettuce I planted will probably be fine, but this is supposed to continue for a few days! I am particulary worried about the peas which I soaked before planting. I often use the technique of getting the seeds really wet and puffed up before putting them in the ground by leaving them overnight in a jar of water. It works well when the weather is hot, but when a rain comes, like this, and it's cool, then I can loose the seeds to rot which may be happening as I speak. Some of the seeds were starting to sprout and their survival wiil depend on how far along they are and if the roots are deep enough not to be drowned out in the puddles developing in the seed rows.
But nonetheless, this Orbit Hose Spray Nozzle has seven different spray patterns and all the reviews are raving about it so I think it is worth ordering. "I know the sun's gonna shine in my backyard someday."
At Orbit 58228D Lawn & Garden 7-Pattern Plastic Pistol Hose Spray Nozzle
April 29, 2010
Troy-Bilt Tiller is one of the best for the gardener weary of hand digging
If you are ready to buy a tiller, or need a new one, Troy-Bilt is a great buy. I had one of these tillers for twenty years and took it to the shop only once in all that time. And it got really heavy use. I tilled up raw land and where I live that means rocks and hard packed soil. One spring I tille our whole two acre meadow and planted it with seed to use for feed for our cows. It did the job and never complained.
Here are the specs for this machine:
The Pro-Line CRT features a premium Honda engine and counter-rotating design to break up hard-packed soil quickly and easily.
Small enough to fit easily between garden rows and with Just One Hand® operation, the Pro-Line CRT rototiller is also easy to use.
Counter-rotating tines for easy use and greater control
Cast-iron transmission with bronze gear drive
1 forward speed with power reverse
16" tilling width
10" tine diameter
Adjustable tilling depth up to 6"
Factory-installed protective bumper included
13" ag tires for greater maneuverability
2 year limited manufacturer's warranty - refer to online owner's manual for exclusions
Limited lifetime warranty on transmission
160cc Honda GC engine with 2 year manufacturer's warranty
At Troy-Bilt 21A645A766 Pro-Line 160cc Honda Engine Rear Tine Tiller
March 31, 2010
Earthway Hand Operated Spreader/Seeder for seeding and fertilizing
The Earthway spreader/seeder is ideal for broadcasting all types of grass seed; it works equally well for ground cover, as well as for the application of fertilizer. The Earthway features convenient spring-action rate setting control and a high-rpm gearbox, which provides a smooth, feathered-edge broadcast. It comes with a zippered nylon bag and a wide, shoulder strap to make extended use more comfortable. The oscillating shut-off plate prevents clumping and aids in flow control.
At Earthway 2750 Hand Operated Bag Spreader/Seeder
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